Mom
by kevin the bird
Summary: Maggie smiled at Lucille again. Lucille turned around and picked up the baby food can and the napkin and was about to get up and throw everything out. But before she was able to do so, Maggie surprised her with something she never thought she'd hear again.


Whenever Fred and Maggie came over for a family dinners, Lucille always offered to change Maggie's diaper or feed her. She missed having a baby to take care of and she knew that Fred enjoyed having a night off from baby duty, so it was a win/win situation for both parents. That Sunday, it happened to be Super Bowl Sunday so both Langston brothers where glued to the TV. Maggie and Lucille where in the kitchen, Maggie in Jacob's old high chair and Lucille making finger snacks for the boys. It was time for Maggie's dinner, so Lucille was feeding her baby food. With everything that Lucille was making in the oven, she was able to give her full attention the one-year-old and every time Lucille would make train sounds and put food into Maggie's mouth, she would get a smile in response.

"Hi, sweetheart," Lucille said as she scooped the last of the baby food onto the spoon and put it in front of Maggie's mouth, who opened it immediately. Lucille put the spoon into Maggie's mouth and let the young girl mouth the food off the spoon. "You finished your dinner, sweetie," she said as she put the spoon into the empty can of baby food, set it on the table, grabbed a napkin and wiped off the baby food from Maggie's face. Maggie smiled at Lucille again. Lucille turned around and picked up the baby food can and the napkin and was about to get up and throw everything out. But before she was able to do so, Maggie surprised her with something she never thought she'd hear again.

"Mom," Maggie said softly, barely audible to her aunt. Lucille immediately froze when she realized what her one-year-old niece had said.

"Maggie, honey," she said as she turned to look at Maggie. "What did you just say?" she asked to no avail. Maggie didn't repeat what she had said, but to have heard Maggie's first word and it be "mom" was something that Lucille never thought she would witness. But she wasn't sure what repelled Maggie to think she was her mother.

It was as if Henry knew what was going on because he walked into the kitchen right when Lucille started to pull Maggie out of the high chair. Lucille had tears in her eyes as she hugged the little girl, who wrapped her legs around her aunt's waist and her arms around Lucille's necks. When she heard Henry walk in, Lucille turned to look at her husband. When Henry noticed the tears in her eyes, he quickly walked over to them.

"Is everything okay, honey?" he asked worriedly.

"She just called me 'Mom,'" Lucille said as she looked at her husband and gave him a watery smile. "Her first word is calling me 'Mommy,'" she added and fresh tears appeared in her eyes. Henry's worried expression turned to one of happiness as he realized why his wife had tears in her eyes. The reason why he was in there was to get a few more beers so when he took too long, Fred walked into the kitchen to the scene of Henry and Lucille with his daughter in between the two of them.

"What's going on?" he asked, confused as to why they where both surrounded his little girl. He then started to panic. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she just said her first word," Lucille replied. She knew that it was Maggie's first word because her and Henry practically raised the little girl along with Fred.

"What was it?" Fred asked as he rushed to her and Henry excitedly.

"'Mom,'" Lucille said. Fred looked at Lucille and just smiled at her, knowing how happy it made Lucille to hear the word 'mommy' again. But he could see in her eyes that it pained her knowing she would never hear her own son say the same word. Lucille smiled at the happy father and then looked down at her niece and rubbed the young girl's back. Maggie, who had rested her head on Lucille's shoulder, looked at her uncle and father, and just smiled at them, unsure why they where all in the kitchen looking at her.

"Can you say it again for Daddy, Maggie?" Fred asked his daughter. Maggie just smiled at him and stayed in the same position in Lucille's arms.

"Say it again for Daddy, sweetie," Lucille encouraged her niece. Maggie continued to look at Henry and Fred without doing as they wanted. Fred, Henry and Lucille all kept encouraging her, but they couldn't get her to say it again. So they gave up and allowed the one-year-old to stay in her aunt's loving embrace.

Lucille knew that after Maggie ate, she went down for a nap so she walked around the house, bouncing her around and rubbing her back, lulling her closer to sleep. When Maggie's breathing slowed down, Lucille walked up the stairs, entered the master bedroom and set the one-year-old down on the bed. She would have put Maggie in Jacob's room, but she still couldn't bring herself to go in there. Once Maggie was settled, Lucille walked out of the room, closed the door and then went back downstairs and served the food that had finished while she was upstairs. When everything was settled, she sat in between the Langston brothers and watched the rest of game in happy silence.


End file.
